Okay, I've been the type to NEVER go above my admininistrator, but our principal is the worst we have ever had. The parents seem to like him because he is Mr. Silly and Friendly, but the staff detests him. He has taken us down a very destructive road and we have been one of the top schools in the state.

Do you have any suggestions on how to correctly bring this problem to the attention of district administrators without hanging yourself? He is a nasty guy who seeks revenge and I'm afraid I'll have every crazy kid and parent next year if he knows I've done anything about him.

If you belong to a union I would certainly recommend talking with your union rep about the situation. Are there others on your staff who would be willing to discuss their feelings as well? If you can present a united front I feel the district would be more willing to listen to your concerns.

You stated that he's taking you down a destructive road. I'm just curious as to what has happened at your school. Is it attributable solely to his leadership (or lack thereof) or are there any other factors that could have contributed? My main reason for asking all of these questions is just to make certain you have all of your "ducks in a row" before discussing a grievance with your union rep.

Best of luck with this situation. The more prepared you can be before any dialogue begins the better off you will surely be in the long run!

This is always sucha hard place to be. We have had a few bad seeds in our garden too! Our unioin has always been very good at addressing these issues. I would start there. Also, document all his "wrongs" and possibly speak to baord members. If you know any parents that feel the same way, subtly suggest they make a complaint. In my own experience parents seem to be heard more than the teachers! Good luck!

I had a principal who I thought was a poor administrator. In addition, he had teachers he used to pick on, one of whom was me. I made an appointment and went downtown and spoke with the assistant superintendent and politely and calmly and professionally expressed my concerns. I wasn't mean or backstabbing in my attitude. I had a clear plan of what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it. I maintained calmness throughout the session with him, detailing the principal's shortcomings and his strengths, as if I were evaluating him. The assistant superintendent listened very well and accepted all of my points. I asked to be anonymous, to avoid backlash.

Several others went downtown, too. Evidently, our complaints were heard and followed-up on. The principal was demoted the following year to assistant principal, then sent to a different school altogether.

In my 30 yrs of teaching Ive come across some bad principals-if he is ruining the school as you say it will come to the attention of the district administrators. But, in a contest between a teacher and a principal, even several teachers and a principal, the teacher will lose. At best, you will be labeled a trouble-maker. Let your union and the parents organization deal with him, and like another post advised dont put anything in writing. If hes as bad as you say he will move on.

First, jump ship...leave the school for another school.
Second, right before Christmas break at your new school, type a letter to the school board on what he has been doing( you'll need this elapsed time so no one links it is you). It is better to send in documentation (everything he has ever done) with dates. Don't use names, you'll be found out. No one will know it was you because you're not there anymore. They'll think it was someone who is still there.
Third, don't ever tell anyone what you did...not your husaband, not your best friend, no co-worker...EVER!! What goes around, comes around. It will leak out if you tell one soul. It's enough that God knows, he may need someone to get the ball rolling. Besides, you may be helping some other teachers out by doing this. Someone has to get the ball rolling.
Alternative: Get enough teachers to type what he has been doing, collect all papers, present to school board. I guarantee they will not renew his contract.

The one thing out of these messages is emotion. Not one has specfic examples or evidance. The next is not one person, has metioned that anyone has talked with their Princpal. Communiation is the key. Most Principals that I know are former teachers that had the courage to take the next step? The blogs seem to lack that courage

My administrators are the worse the ass. is the brains in the operation and he knows everything about the union since he was a big part of it b4 becmoing the ass. and the principal well she does not know a thing and leans on him for everything. the union rep in our building is the principals best friend and so is the district rep. the other day a student started a fire in the school and no one reported it because the school let the boy roam around without placing him because the teachers were on a trip and he was supposed to be placed in another class. 2 other students were sent to the bathroom but all the bathrooms in the school are closed so the children ended up playing with the non placed child.the ass. she closes the bathrooms because she feels the kids are messing them up. speaks to people as he wishes even cursing at the teachers everyone is to afraid because we are all new teachers. They purposely hire new teachers so that they have all control. we had quality review the other day and they evn fooled the super. because all there paper work is right so thats the cover. they have gone as far as locking all the phones in the building because she says people talk about her. 311 calls go out and nothing is done. the kids in the building have started gangs and nothing is done. if we speak to the administrators they refer u to the handbook and talk about ur lack of classroom managment behind ur back. she has her favorites and those are the teachers that will get ahead. some of these teachers have so many per session cards and all because she likes them. We need HELP.

Nothing can be worse than Alberta, Principals are part of the union. Who has heard of management being members of a union?! What recourse do teachers have here? I have never seen anything so underhanded in some schools.

Principals go into administration purely for the money and power forget communicatiation. Haven't met one yet that is interested in helping teachers or children. They are only interested in their ego. What you need is a union steward there or get out of the school

I completely understand you situation. In the case of our school we cannot really even think about doing anything because we are not affiliated with a union. Our principal is never at school, doesn't return parent phone calls or emails, doesn't return teacher emails for that matter. She has said time and time again that she dislikes our middle schoolers. People are fired without cause on a regular basis. Test scores are plummeting due to student and teacher moral. It is a terrible situation. Excellent students and top notch teachers are looking to jump ship because of her, but it is tearing them apart because they love the school. Truly an example of how getting rid of that one bad apple can make the tree blossom again. I think someone has to be willing to stick their neck out. Document, document, document!!!!!

We had one who only lasted one year (thankfully!). She would go in her office and lock the door and you wouldn't see her for hours! We think she would nap at her desk. It was awful. She wouldn't make any decisions about anything except stupid things like what kind of shoes teachers were allowed to wear!If you needed a decision on something important, forget it! The final straw was when the school superintendent came to the school unannounced and found her locked in her office. He knocked and knocked on her door and she ignored it because she didn't know it was him! Finally he was yelling through the door at her! Needless to say, she was gone the next year but to a neighboring county where I heard she is still doing the same thing - you would have thought she would have learned a lesson!

I worked for a district that actually tried to fire bad principals and teachers. Principals usually just get demoted or promoted to the Board Office and hopefully move on to another district. One principal went from principal to child care director back to teacher and not by her decision. Any formal complaint made to the administration should always have a CC to the Board of Education. I didn't have a union backing me and I took on my boss. I went to her boss with full page list and he told us we were protected under the whistleblowers act, which should also cover any repercussions.